Intel readies Core i7
While Intel has dominated the performance charts over the past two years with its Conroe and Penryn based Core 2 Duo CPUs, AMD has remained competitive in the server market. This is largely due to AMD’s superior integrated memory controller and L3 cache. Intel’s latest release is largely designed to address this.
The processor has been described as more of an evolution than the revolution that Conroe was. It will not only benefit server users, but will also provide significant improvements over previous consumer parts.
Improved memory control
Intel has developed QuickPath Interconnect which is its answer to AMD’s HyperTransport. The Nehalem chip will support an integrated memory controller as well as L3 cache, similar to AMD’s current CPUs.
While the actual CPU will be competitively priced the X58 motherboard platform required to run the i7 series is expensive. X58 motherboards are expected to retail at around R3 500. The platform will also rely on new DDR3 memory which is currently about double the price of the current DDR2 standard.
The platform may be expensive but the CPUs themselves offer an impressive performance to price ratio. The Core i7-920 is only slightly slower than the current QX9770 yet it costs significantly less. Early tests have reported that the i7-965 is now the world’s fastest consumer level CPU. It should retail locally for about R11 000, which is about R4 000 less than the outgoing performance king, the QX9770.
Local release and pricing
The Core i7 will be released on November 17 in the USA. Local distributors were unable to give an estimate of local launch but confirmed that the CPU would start become available very shortly after the US release.
The entry level i7-920 will offer decent performance for around $280 (around R3 000), while the top-end i7 Extreme 965 will offer unbeatable performance for $999 (around R11 000).
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